The present invention relates to a vehicle air conditioning apparatus for, e.g., efficiently cooling the rear portion of a vehicle interior.
Japanese Utility Model Application Laid-open No. 63-26420 discloses two rows of rear seats being arrayed in a front-to-rear direction of the vehicle behind the driver's seat, an air conditioning unit having an evaporator located in a rear portion of a vehicle interior, cool air ejected from the air conditioning unit being guided to an upper portion of the vehicle interior by a conditioned air duct located inside a pillar of the most rear portion the vehicle body, further guided to an front portion of the vehicle interior along a roof side portion located on a side wall of an upper portion of the vehicle interior, and cooling the rear portion of the vehicle interior by ejecting the conditioned air from an air duct provided in front of the roof side portion.
However, with the construction where the air conditioning unit is located on a side wall of a lower portion of the vehicle interior and the air duct is located on an upper portion of the air conditioning unit, it is difficult to cool the rear portion of the vehicle interior widely and evenly by causing the phenomenon that a cooling air flows into only a part of the rear portion of the vehicle interior through a portion proximate to the air conditioning unit. The air conditioning unit located on the rear portion of the vehicle interior is fundamentally used as inside air circulation type, this type of air conditioning unit more easily circulating a heating air ejected from the air duct in a part of the vehicle interior than an outside air circulation type. Thus, it is difficult to make the temperature of the rear portion of the vehicle interior even.
Japanese Utility Model Application Laid-Open No. 2-126916 also discloses cool air ejected from a rear cooler located on the rear portion of the vehicle interior of a Sports Utility Vehicle type vehicle being guided to an upper portion of the vehicle interior by a cooling air duct provided inside a pillar located in a central portion of a side wall in a front-to-rear direction of the vehicle and cooling the rear portion of the vehicle interior by ejecting the conditioned air from an air duct provided on a roof portion of the vehicle interior.
However, with the construction where the cooling air duct is provided inside a pillar located in a central portion of a side wall in a front-to-rear direction of the vehicle, and when an opening area of the air duct is larger so as to reduce flow resistance of the cooling air flowing into the air duct, the width size of the pillar is larger in accordance with the opening area of the air duct, the larger size of the pillar deteriorates visibility of a passenger sitting on the passenger's seat and the air conditioning unit can not be located in the rear portion of the vehicle interior so that the rear seats can be stored into the rear space by sliding the rear seats without any obstruction in the operation for storing the rear seats.